Landscape experience. Robert Jankuloski and Monika Moteska

After the successful presentation of the exhibition Landscape experience by Robert Jankuloski and Monika Moteska at the North Macedonia Pavilion at the 59th Venice Art Biennale, in collaboration with the National Gallery of the Republic of North Macedonia, the exhibition is being displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Novi Sad. It is a multimedia project focusing on the exploration of space archaeology, the layers of abandoned and neglected landscapes within collective culture of memory, and the revitalization of the 'presence of absence', positioning them in a new context. The relationships between life and death, beauty and ugliness, health and toxicity form the basis of the critical approach to the themes the authors have previously engaged with.

„Man is the only being conscious of its own existence“, in the context of existential philosophy — if we continue Sartre's thoughts on human freedom in terms of personal choice, selection of possibilities, and taking responsibility for events and risks of human existence, a conclusion or contradiction about the meaninglessness or absurdity of human existence is drawn, which is often confirmed by many examples throughout human history. The project Landscape experience by Robert Jankuloski and Monika Moteska explores this topic, as well as many other sublayers.

The questions they pose are directly focused on the connection between ecology and corporate imperialism, gender perspectives, collective identities, and the importance of decolonizing not only history but also nature. They examine power relations in society and the dangers of mutual struggles through senseless wars (whether explicit or implicit, real or psychological, physical or chemical) and increasingly aggressive neoliberal exploitation and misuse of natural resources. They investigate issues of human freedoms, responsibilities, and risks of their own actions, as well as the question of the survival of humanity as a value of contemporary society. They address accumulated problems, emphasizing the importance of establishing a new order that would provide the opportunity to transcend the anthropocentric view of the world. Can beauty simultaneously be insidiously ugly, and can what is aesthetically valuable become a servant of evil?